A fundamental problem of asexual adaptation is that beneficial substitutions are not efficiently accumulated in large populations: Beneficial mutations often go extinct because they compete with one another in going to fixation. It has been argued that such clonal interference may have led to the evolution of sex and recombination in well-mixed populations. Here, we study clonal interference, a...

background and aim. the toothbrush is the most widely used tooth-hygiene tool, and numerous designs have been manufactured, claiming superior plaque removal. this study aimed at comparing the efficacy of a tooth wipe to a manual toothbrush on reduction of microbial plaque. materials and methods. this crossover study was conducted on 30 subjects at two visits with one-week interval. before each ...

The effect of the thickness of ceramic membrane on the productivity of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated with respect to the electricity generation and domestic wastewater treatment efficiencies. The thickest ceramic membrane (9 mm) gained the highest coulombic efficiency (27.58±4.2 %), voltage (681.15±33.1 mV), and current and power densities (447.11±21.37 mA/m2, 63.82±10.42 mW/m2) ...

background & aim: stroke in young adults is rare but can be devastating for the affected individuals and their families. some triggers of stroke may be acute but transient effects on the pathophysiological condition while other factors may be effective overa longer period. methods & materials: this study was a case-crossover study on 18 young adults. the study included patients aged 15-49 years...

BACKGROUND Rumen microbes play a greater role in host energy acquisition than that of gut-associated microbes in monogastric animals. Although genome-enabled advancements are providing access to the vast diversity of uncultivated microbes, our understanding of variables shaping rumen microbial communities is in its infancy. Viruses have been shown to impact microbial populations through a myria...

We calculate the eigenspectrum of random walks on the Eden tree in two and three dimensions. From this, we calculate the spectral dimension ds and the walk dimension dw and test the scaling relation ds = 2df/dw (= 2d/dw for an Eden tree). Finite-size induced crossovers are observed, whereby the system crosses over from a short-time regime where this relation is violated (particularly in two dim...